


nova pining after adrian for a 1,000 words

by narcissacronin



Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:02:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22023013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narcissacronin/pseuds/narcissacronin
Summary: it’s about the pining
Relationships: Nova Artino | Nightmare/Adrian Everhart | Sketch
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	nova pining after adrian for a 1,000 words

Adrian's tattooing kit lay spread out beside Nova on his couch. Adrian was crouched in front of her, holding her wrist in his hand. They were at his apartment, a fact which made Nova nervous.

After he was revealed as the Sentinel, tension between him and his fathers became higher than it ever had before. It got to the point where none of them could stand it and Adrian decided it’d ultimately be better for him to move out. So he found a small apartment in Gatlon to rent. Though his relationship with his dads was back to normal now, he still lived in the apartment.

About a year had passed since the reveal and Nova and Adrian’s relationship had only just begun to return to a sort of normalcy. Still, nothing was the same as it was before. Though they were no longer dating, they remained close friends.

Well, at least they tried to. Nova constantly found herself getting flustered around Adrian, blushing whenever his hand would brush against hers. It didn't take long for her to conclude that she still had romantic feelings towards him. Which was a bit of a problem considering she was 87% sure that he didn't like her back—at least not in that way. So Nova kept her emotions to herself, harboring some small hope that he would confess he felt the same.

Adrian dipped a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and gently cleaned the skin on the inside of her wrist. Once that dried, he took a pen and drew a crescent moon and three stars on it. She chose the stars to represent her parents and Evie, and the moon for it was her ever-present companion. For now, he was just tattooing the outlines for her, though he offered to fill it in for her at a later date.

“Are you sure about this?” Adrian asked, lifting his gaze up to her.

“Yes,” she said, hating the way her heart fluttered at his touch.

“Let me know if you want me to stop, okay?” He brushed the cotton ball against her wrist again, fading the ink from the pen slightly.

Nova nodded, watching as he took the needle and dipped into the ink. She almost flinched when the needle touched her skin. Gritting her teeth, Nova bore the pain and distracted herself by watching Adrian’s careful movements. Occasionally, he would stop and use a piece of cloth to wipe her skin of excess ink.

A faint blush tinted her cheeks at their closeness. No matter how many times Nova told herself she and Adrian were just friends, her heart stammered the same way it always had. Nova knew her attraction to Adrian was wrong but it felt so  _ right _ .

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed by the time Adrian moved onto the final star, having finished the outlines of the moon and two of the stars. A smile flitted across Nova’s lips as she observed his handiwork.

Though it was still painful, Nova had almost grown used to the feeling. Her thoughts soon drifted to what she and Adrian had been before they were unmasked. She knew she should be grateful that he even wanted to be in her life now considering all that Nightmare put him through. Still, something inside of her longed for more.

Somewhere along the line, Nova had fallen in love with Adrian Everhart. And she had fallen hard.

A confession sprung to the tip of her tongue, and it took all of her self control not to just blurt it out. Instead, she took a measured breath and slowly began to speak, watching as Adrian traced the final lines of the star.

“Adrian.” Nova drew out his name, testing her voice. “I like you.”

Adrian didn’t so much as glance up at her, focus still on the tattoo.

She swallowed. “More than just a friend.”

He finished the last line of the stars and looked up at her. “How long?” he asked, voice so low she barely heard it.

“I never stopped.” Her next words came out in a rush, “Adrian, I understand if you don’t feel the same. I just needed to tell you or—”

“Nova, I like you, too.” He dashed a grin at her. “More than just a friend.”

Her cheeks flamed.

“Though I’ve been in denial about it for the longest time.” He continued speaking as he went back to finishing the tattoo. “After the reveal, I wasn’t sure I could ever speak to you again, let alone fall in  _ love _ with you. Then we slowly started to become friends and I realized that maybe...maybe something between us could work. But things were rocky enough and I didn’t want to cause any more harm, so I figured it’d be best to keep my feelings to myself.” Adrian glanced up at her. “Though now I’m realizing that maybe one of us should’ve spoken up sooner.” He finished the final line and set down the needle, standing up.

“Thank you,” Nova murmured, staring at the tattoo on her wrist.

“Of course.” His expression softened, the focused gaze from before gone. “Here, go wash your wrist in the sink over there”—he pointed at the kitchenette—“and then I’ll bandage it for you.”

Nova nodded and stood up, walking over to the sink. She turned on the water, letting it run over her wrist. After a few seconds, she turned it off and went back over to Adrian, sitting back down on the couch.

He had cleaned up the supplies and stashed them on a stand by the sofa, sitting where they had been. The bandages sat in his lap.

She held out her newly-tattooed wrist. Carefully, he bandaged the area, giving her instructions on what to do to make sure it healed properly.

“I guess I should be going,” Nova muttered, making no move to get up. Her gaze drifted to Adrian’s.

“Yeah, it’s getting late,” he murmured, leaning closer to her.

Her eyes slowly shut as Adrian’s lips pressed against hers. Though the kiss was small, it was just enough to send an electric current through every nerve.

Nova ended up staying over at Adrian’s for the night. They stayed up into the late hours of the night, talking about anything and everything, stealing kisses in the dark. Adrian ended up falling asleep sometime past midnight, Nova snuggled in his arms. Not long after that, she fell asleep too, finding safety and comfort in his arms.


End file.
